"It's been a long time," Mussina said. "I've been close."

Previously, the oldest first-time 20-game winner was Jamie Moyer, who was 38 when he went 20-6 for Seattle in 2001. Mussina, who hasn't committed to playing next season, could be the first pitcher to retire following a 20-win season since Sandy Koufax.

Mussina won his final three starts, allowing one run over 16 innings. His previous high for wins came in 1995 and 1996, when he won 19 games each year for Baltimore. Mussina went 0-2 in his last four starts in 1996, leaving his final one with a 2-1 lead after eight innings only to watch Armando Benitez allow a tying homer to Toronto's Ed Sprague in the ninth.

After Boston closed to 3-2 in the eighth on Chris Carter's RBI grounder off Joba Chamberlain and Jacoby Ellsbury's run-scoring single against Damaso Marte, Rivera struck out Dustin Pedroia to end the inning. After the Yankees added three runs in the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon, Rivera finished with a hitless ninth for his 39th save in 40 chances.

Rivera returned from tests in New York and may have arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

"Joe told me a couple days ago he'd have everybody ready, and I guess that means Mo in the eighth," Mussina said, referring to manager Joe Girardi. "I know he's not feeling 100 percent but he's still throwing the ball great. I'm glad he came back from New York."

Pedroia went 2-for-4 to increase his batting average to .326 and needed a big second game to win the AL batting title over Minnesota's Joe Mauer, who was at .330.

With Boston heading to the playoffs to defend its World Series title and New York missing them for the first time since 1993, the rain-delayed game lacked the usual intensity of Yankees-Red Sox matchups.

"We wish we would still be playing next week," Mussina said.

In a pregame ceremony, Johnny Pesky's No. 6 was retired by the Red Sox as the 89-year-old former shortstop stood under an umbrella at home plate wearing the team's white home uniform with his number on the back. The other five numbers retired by the team are Bobby Doerr (1), Joe Cronin (4), Carl Yastrzemski (8), Ted Williams (9) and Carlton Fisk (27).

Xavier Nady hit a three-run homer in the fifth off Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-3), who lost for the first time in eight decisions since July 28.

Notes: The start of the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour. ... The Red Sox went over the 3 million mark in home attendance for the first time with 37,091 fans increasing this year's total to 3,010,801. ... Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 18 games. ... Abreu has reached base in 27 straight games at Fenway Park. ... Pedroia has 213 hits, tying Jim Rice for the fourth-highest season total in team history.